How Blind People See With Sound… with  

This was a really amazing experience. I learned so much, not only about how blind people experience the world but about how I and all of us view so-called "disability". Thank you so much to Molly for doing this with me. Definitely go check out her channel!

This was truly SO fun! I can't wait to work with Bryan more to keep improving my active echolocation skills! I'll definitely be sharing my echolocation journey on my channel, so come hangout with me! Thanks for doing this with me, Joe!

9:46 "Let me take my blindfold off so I can experience this." Joe just flexing on the blind

Molly:"I see blind people skateboarding" Me: *hol up*

It’s amazing at 9:27 (it’s so overlooked) how when Joe lifts his hand and misses the bowl, Bryan WHO’S BLIND knows Joe’s mistake and corrects his mistake by moving his hand on the bowl.

"Hey, smart people..." Alright, man- I think you might have me mistaken for somebody else.

I like how the two blind people will look at each other, out of respect, even though the other cant tell if they are or aren't

"But really, a lack of sound still makes noise." That sounds profound on more than one level.

"Sound shadows" is actually something I've been aware of most of my life, but never knew was a special concept until someone came face to face with me while I was napping in highschool. There was the room's general noises, where I was pretty aware of where the groups of people were and vaguely aware of how many individuals were in each one, (something I just liked know for whatever reason), when suddenly the most obvious void of sound popped up directly in front of my face. When I asked what they were doing, they were surprised that I could tell despite having my eyes closed. A decade later, and I still listen for those voids in the room. Actually, it helps me multitask as hospital security because I can take my eyes off of people that are likely to elope and still know when they stand up or otherwise change... sound shape? The dead zone grows taller when they stand up, or grows wider if they're leaning out of their chair/bed. Much easier on a chair. In general, I try to rely on my sight as little as possible. First thing I did with my multitool was learn how to access the tool I wanted by feel and memory. I put things down with the intent of taking them even if my eyes are somewhere else. Heck, I have a severe dislike of checking for my wallet by hand, so I just flex my leg to see if I feel its shape. My point is that even being sighted, I dislike having to rely on the sense entirely. I had never considered honing onto a single, individual sound (type) as my wayfinder. I just kind of listen for the garbled miasma of noises for voids in it. This video has given me something else to practice on!

and now we're all sitting in front of our computers like idiots making clicking sounds and shushing at our hands

Hearing about how Molly was taught passive echolocation, helps explain how she is able to grab her drinks pretty easily, or know exactly where the handle of her fridge is, etc.

I found it so weird that Molly would sometimes while she was talking, turn to the camera and look right into it, she's very good at knowing where something or someone is its amazing

I like how she’s blind but still closed her eyes to find the bowl 🤣🤣🤣

I love that beaming look on Molly's face as she realizes the active echolocation gives her more accuracy and that she can gain this skill. Wonderful!

"there's so much noise out there, we have to be able to filter out!" My ears must be working overtime they straight filter everything out. Deaf joke...I am deaf, not funny :) PS thanks for having good closed captions!

human echolocation work like this. Mom: Joeeeeeee!!!! Joe: Yess mooom!!! Mom: he is in his room Joe: mom's in the kicthen they've found each other

Bryan is a real good teacher. Just watching him explain everything makes you learn a lot about active echolocation

i need this skill for when i turn off the light and trying to find my way to bed:)

I can't wait for my mom to see me shh-ing a bowl.

I love how she still closes her eyes when clicking

Heckin bamboozled by the fact that she can accurately look him exactly in the eye..

Awesome timing. I just found out that i'm going to go blind in a few years due to a rare genetic thing. This gave me quite a bit of motivation.

Me, a hard of hearing person making clicking noises alone in my living room. What am I doing.

Not only interesting, but really important. Thank you all!

Echolocation skills should be part of our curriculum starting from our elementary school. It is as important as learning how to swim and even more important than learning how to sing as echolocation is kind of a life saving skill that is very useful during the absence of light.

One of the thing I noticed is that Molly - being blind for (over) a decade now - is still very actively and specifically looking all around her. She actually looks at the people who are talking and even towards the camera. You really cannot see that she is blind. Very interesting. Especially when I think about people who have gone deaf - they usually will speak less and less clear over time.

6:04 the moment Molly realizes she could possibly ride a bike.

Thank you. I'm having increasing difficulty with vision. I'm mostly tapping a finger ring or a ball bearing on my wheelchair to get the sound, as I can't really click my tounge well, but this is really useful, and validating, as so many people think I'm nuts if I try to explain I'm using sound to get an understanding of where I am. I'm autistic, and have always used sound to supplement vision, and have listened for the echo of my motor to hear whether I'm about to hit something for a few years now. But I never realised the fidelity I could get. 20 minutes practice and I could walk through a door without feeling for the frame first, now I'm doing so much more. I never thought I'd be able to locate things like this again. Thank you again.

This is so humbling.

Confirmed. Molly is Daredevil

Frank Herbert wrote the first "Dune" novel in 1965. Some years later in a sequel, one carachter was inside a cavern with no lighting, she was so skilled at echolocation that she used a clap of her hands to measure the cavern within centimeters of precision, not being blind. Oue brain plasticity is awesome in real life too. There is a possibility I go blind in the near future because diabetic retina disease (I already loss the vision of my left eye), this is inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

It makes me cry to see them looking at each other even though they're blind... I'm so glad they are able to cope with the world in their own unique way. Life sure ain't fair but you gotta deal with what you got. I kiss you blind people and send tons of virtual hugs, I'm so proud of you🤗🤗🤗

I actually used to do this as a kid when we played hide n seek in the dark. I'd keep replaying how the sound of their voices saying 'ready' felt on my ear drum and walk right to em.

Brian is like toph from Avatar only with ears instead of feat 😂

This was one of my favorite videos! I loved how amazing both of their souls are! God bless them on their journeys in life.

I've always had a sort of respect for "disabled" people, blind and deaf especially, but this just took it to a whole new level. I have a newfound respect for blind people, and deaf people a little too, and I hope to learn more about how people with sensory "loss" can actually gain more from it than any fully-sensed person could.

"You're probably wondering why I"m walking around blindfolded", no the title of this video explains it very well hahah.

That dude missed an oportunity by not calling his NGO "Visionears"

That was an amazing video! I loved the insight… However, she did not appear to be blind in anyway, because she looked directly at everyone any time it was important. And every single second.

Hi Joe…I’ve been a fan of your show for quite a while. Thank you so much for what you and all of your fellow colleagues at PBS do. Truly opens our minds to new things and ideas…and keeps us curious!!Congratulations. This video in particular was amazing: Showing things about our brains, that also directly impacts the quality of life of many people, was impressive! Great job. Thanks again. Regards from Costa Rica.

How about seeing with your feet, like Toph Beifong?

Ok, I'm autistic and highly sensitive to sound and visuals. The moment Molly stood in the corner to try and create an image of the corner with echolocation, my brain just flooded with information. It was a similar sensation to when I would look someone straight in the eyes. You see, contrary to what many believe, autistics who avoid eye contact (not all do), do so not out of lack of social skills, but because the amount of information flooding in is too intense. It's disstressing. With Molly creating that image in the corner, a similar thing happened. I quickly paused the video, 'cause of the disstress I experienced, and to take a moment to process. It was highly uncomfortable. When I got through processing, I realised the image of that wall was lodged into my memory, like it imprinted. I can just recall it now. I'm not trying to be special or anything. This really happened, and it greatly unsettled me. So why share it? Because I'm always interested in the workings of the brain, and people watching videos like these might be as well. So I thought people might find it interesting what an autistic brain with sound and visual sensitivities might do with sensory information like this. First I thought I might want to learn echolocation, because I thought I would be great at it. Now I think it would be a horrible fit. It's just too much and too disstressing. It's really interesting to me though.

This is a awesome video, heard about this as a kid and loved trying to walk around the house with my eyes closed doing this. I think this video really explains how certain disabilities can really be mitigated by creative solutions and even open up whole new worlds for those individuals.

I think passive echolocation is something even sighted people do, only not consciously. When you get up at night and wander in your dark home, aiming to the kitchen, you're using your spatial memory but also echolocation. Try and do the same with earplugs or headphones with music on, and you'll notice the difference.

Reminds me of blind Toph from "Avatar; The last airbender". She echolocates through the ground instead of the air.

10:58 I like how she has her eyes closed even though she’s blind

“Brains want sensory information” Me with sensory processing disorder: yes, but not too much.

One of the best! Must admit, got tears in my eyes and a strange sensation of expanding brain.

I like how Molly closes her eyes when tongue clicking

11:50 Molly closing her eyes is the cutest thing because you forget that she’s blind but then big dog at her feet 😂

Joe, you have put out some fabulous videos, but this is perhaps your best ever. Many thanks!

"Damn, that's a really good tongue click." Things I never thought I'd say.

Wow, the brain is a true machine that we underestimated its potential

Video was too short!! I could have watched more like this for hours! Wow

A mosquito just approached me in the dark while I watched this. I realized I knew exactly where it was directionally and in distance. Fascinating what can be accomplished when we don't accept the limits people put on us.

The comment of conquering the fear of darkness reminds me of my favorite Toph quote, Sokka: "It's pitch black-and-white! I can't see a thing!" Toph: (sarcasm) "Oh no... what a nightmare."

love this! i love seeing a blind-majority activity where the sighted person is the one who's the fish out of water :)

I'm not blind, and I remember doing this in the family car when I was little, when we'd drive with the windows down in summer. I recall very clearly hearing a loud hiss that would periodically go completely away, then come back, then go away again, and wondering what was causing it. I kept listening and looking out the window to see what it was because it sounded like an echo -- and that's what it was. I realized that it was the hiss of the tire noise. When we were next to a curb, the hiss bounced back to the car. When we went past a curb cut or an intersection, the hiss went away. So I could close my eyes and tell when we were passing an intersection or curb cut by listening to the tire noise. Sighted people I think hear this more than we realize, but our eyes are so overwhelming a sense that we just tune it out -- but even we can tell things like how large a darkened room is when we walk into it.

I love everything I've ever seen that features Brian and active echolocation. There are several videos, shows, and documentaries featuring the topic, and even him ❣️

I love how Molly closed her eyes even though she's blind.

Im tearing over this. I never felt so inferior to a more handicapped individual. I hits me really hard on how much I have taken my body capacity for granted. On a less serious note, these 2 people can literally be a ninja.

When my family still uses CRT TV's I would use the high pitched humming from the TV to hear if someone is coming to my room... And now because my PC is always on I could listen to the fan sound to hear where I'm facing

Molly makes me so happy. She's just so excited.

I just found your channel through Molly's channel and am excited to watch more of your videos. I am legally blind and found both of the videos y'all did together to be very interesting. I don't have RP, I have Septo Optic-Dysplasia,but I can still relate to the info you shared about it. And I can't actively echolocate but hope to learn.

My grandma was blind and taught me this. She told me that sound is like waves around rocks, you can feel the shift in current. She used passive for most things but active if in a place she wasn’t familiar with. I now have very sensitive ears, i can hear things most wouldn’t and I notice small noises that most would ignore as background noise.

I love Molly, and I would LOVE for her to learn this and be able to ride a bike. How exciting!!

It's amazing! I am already familiar to distinguishing people from footsteps even when I am not a blind. So, my ears are always pretty much on high alert wherever I am especially when in the dark or eating something quitely and even when having earphones and the mobile volume max. Happy to share my experience 😊

I like how when Molly does the exercises she still closes her eyes.

Someone should do “being blind for a week” ..and not like a joke but actually trying to adapt to the lifestyle

Me: Has sight, but *walks* into a chair

Thank you all for sharing this experience!

I am a singing teacher and work a lot trying to develop peoples' hearing. This is so very interesting to me. I am an echolator by nature, I always study the acoustic shape of every space.. comes from being a music producer I guess, listening and designing musical soundscapes. A great example of the value of multi-disciplinary study. Thank you for this.

You can do a version of this with someone who is deaf (depending on their type of hearing loss), you can use claps to get a deaf persons attention because of the way they pick up on vibrations. Its fascinating!

This was utterly fascinating! The best possible way to do a collab. Thank you both.

Wow! It's amazing that the optical lobe lights up during echolocation! Thanks for the amazing video!

Truly amazing - I tried it, and turns out I kinda suck at it but I love that this exists.

This is such an amazing video, I always knew that blind people experienced the world solely through sound but never to this intensity or detail

These two lovely blind people are so positive! Its pretty cool to "see" that. But i would still much rather have vision than being blind.

I like how Molly closes her eyes as she clicks

First I love that Joe did this topic! Second, I love these two talented people who are willing to put themselves in a somewhat vulnerable position in order to help us viewers understand the world as they experience it as well as how to improve our own abilities! They are just amazing!! Thank you!

What's interesting about passive echolocation is that I think I've always done it subconsciously whenever I was trying to get around in a dark room, but it wasn't until this video explained it that I even realized what my brain was actually doing.

As a vision-impaired guy myself, I wish it wasn't quite so heavy on the "wow, blind people can do stuff too!" tone, but it helps show the world that we're not helpless and have our own means of doing things. So good on it. Anything to stem back the tide of ignorance when it comes to blind representation.

Nice, I love echolocation content! I had the opportunity to talk to Daniel Kish and see him echolocate once, he could describe so good the soarrounding, his mental map was so rich. He was able to detect a building behind another building from a sidewalk, including the metallic fence that was in front of him. The important thing he told me was he need the mobility cane anyways, cuz sometimes the are elements on the streets that you can't picked. I learn some concept today thanks to you video "active/pasive echocolation". Good to see Molly too.

Just thank god that we have eyes and we can see the beauty of the world😢☺️

I have actually experienced the passive echolocation or at least it seems like it. I have RP and so have limited vision at night. Yet I can usually tell when something is in front of me. I just never knew what it was or why it worked. Very interesting.

I have this habit of using a different glass to drink water every time i go to kitchen. And a lot of times my mom taking a bath shouts from the bathroom, exactly at the moment when i am about to pick a different clean glass, telling me to use the glass i used minutes ago or i will have to wash it. Beat this echolocation.

I just find it amazing how she can look straight at the camera

This is such an amazing thing and I would really like to thank Joe and team for doing this ❤️ I've seen Daredevil before and always thought it was a superpower or something but recently I discovered that I've ADHD and one of it's side effects is auditory processing disorder in which the brain doesn't always filter out the unnecessary background noise and so I've always had trouble in loud areas.... So I'm currently rewatching the Daredevil series and I realised that Matt had similar hearing of everything everywhere all at once and that led me down to this rabbit hole 🙌🏻 I'm greatful that I've all my senses working but I'm always amazed with the extraordinary abilities people like Brian has and would really love to learn this myself

I want a second part on this, IDK, is really interesting

who else knew Molly before this?!

Respect to all differently abled people around the world. Feel blessed for what you have got

The natural way those blind guys move their eyes is wonderful. When Molly was making the bowl experiments, she actually closed her eyes and suddenly opened them when she figured out she was right. And I guess that's because she is not blind from birth: that led her to absorb that unconscious behavior and keeping it after blindness.

Amazing how quickly active echolocation *clicked* for you, Joe! Practice makes perfect!

I loved this video so amazing to learn more about vision loss. I dont feel afraid has much now Thank you .

Amazing! I've heard of this before but this made it so much more tangible. I'm practicing my clicks and acoustic imaging. I loved his statement "I've conquered Man's fear of Darkness!"

Despite having decent eyesight, my hearing has always been highly sensitive and I think I’ve always naturally used it to get a better ‘read’ per se on my surroundings, especially if I was in a crowded area or an area that was hard to fully focus on when using just my eyes. It honestly saved me from bumping into people, things, and whatnot. But I’m amazed by how much I actually rely on my hearing to get an image of my surroundings. One of my favorite ways to use/practice this is if I’m at a book store or reading a book somewhere, I’ll focus on the sound around me so I can continue reading without too much interruption. That way I’m aware of my surroundings while not needing to be completely focused on it where it detracts from me reading. The sound often gives me a clear image of what’s around and though I still struggle with recognizing certain things immediately, and for the most part, I’m actually quite good at identifying everything around me well enough. Now that I think of it, the times I really struggled with knowing where my surroundings were, was in places where it was very loud and or hectic/hyper. The loud noise often threw me off and to some extent disoriented me, and I had a hard time keeping up in places that were hectic/hyper. It’s honestly amazing and most times people are absolutely amazed that I can hear that well. Especially since I have pretty decent eyesight. Though, there are some downsides to it too, it’s not too intense if you know what works best for you and what doesn’t. I enjoy quiet places but don’t mind getting out to a somewhat loud place every so often. It’s a balance I think you got to find for yourself. But that’s my thoughts on this. Great video, I loved it! (^ ^)

I'm not blind, but I actually think I have taught myself to use echolocation without really knowing. I usually used to listen to everything around me wherever I walked when I was being bullied daily. This way I was able to avoid everyone and every danger that I was worried I might have encountered

when you said "the real daredevil" I thought you were gonna say ben afflecks and got scared for a second

I was today years old that i found out about this, and this absolutely blew my mind!!

This is amazing! Imagine the possibilities with more research and development!